Exhaustion can Cause Illussions
by flo-bizet
Summary: Madeline knows that she's not in deep with anything. She knows she's just helping Izaya out of pinches. She knows he's not bad. What she doesn't know is how long she can convince herself of these things. READ THE NOTES PLEASE!


**Date Written: **July 19, 2010

**Flo: _THIS IS FOR THE MARY SUE CHALLENGE! I, IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM, ACTUALLY SUPPORT THIS PAIRING OF IZAYAXOC! _**If anything, I might see them as friends? Basically, this was a challenge that I accepted, more details at the end!

**WARNINGS:** Also a funny side note, this is the first fic and/or chapter I've written in almost _EXACTLY_ two years! So sorry if it's crap, I'm kinda rusty, and also never written for Durarara! I keep meaning to doodle a Shizaya comic though~ Yes, THAT is the pairng Flo supports! (b ^_^)b

**Hope you enjoy!**

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It was around ten in the morning and Madeline Warner was seriously reconsidering her choice in career paths. In the back of her mind she knew/prayed that in the next week or so she'd be over her jet lag, but her current zombie state was preventing that reminder from making any point. There was also the fact that out of the entire city of Ikebukuro there didn't appear to be a decent coffee shop.

Maybe I just haven't noticed it? she thought. Again, she was nearly a zombie at this time so it was entirely plausible that she had simply missed them. Extreme exhaustion can have that effect on people in that it blurs their surroundings and is quite a dangerous state to be in, especially in a large city. Why, sleep deprivation can even mute noises to the person afflicted; noises that are important alerts to danger, such as cars honking, people yelling, sirens blaring, and phone booths whistling right over your head followed by the sharp sounds of glass shattering and support beams bending.

Madeline froze at that last noise and leaned back and above, eyes wide, in order to see if that had just really happened or if she was so far gone her mind was playing tricks on her (it would be that same evening in her daily report that she would see that the phone booth was the near equivalent of a cup of coffee). The corner of her lip twitched downward when she saw that yes, there was, in fact, a phone booth imbedded into the building not ten feet behind her.

Despite being near fully awake then, the complete absurdness of the situation had Madeline unmoving and her mind at a near blank. Well, except for the obvious thought of, What the heeeeeell…? She could also hear people in the distance running and shouting at one another, possibly including herself, but was slowly realizing that this scene seemed similar to many others from nearly five years ago.

"Madeline!" a voice suddenly rang out, springing Madeline out of her thoughts.

Snapping her head forwards, her body still frozen in a backwards lean, Madeline felt her mouth go dry as she croaked out, "I-Izaya?"

Izaya had a huge grin on his face as he ran towards her, his arm waving furiously above his head in greeting. Madeline was slowly gaining the reuse of her legs and was even able to take a small stumble back, though it proved useless. Izaya was too fast and had swooped in with one arm encircling her waist, the other grabbing her hand to pull her around.

"How wonderfully coincidental to find you back in this country at this precise time!" Izaya practically sang as he twirled Madeline around, until suddenly stopping and leaning in, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. "Now would be a great time to continue where we left off."

"Wait!" Madeline exclaimed, slightly pushing back to look Izaya in the eyes. "I haven't been here even three days, you can't ju-!" "No time!"

Before Madeline could regain her bearings, Izaya spun her around again and practically threw her behind him into an oncoming and enraged Shizuo, ready to strike. In that split second before impact, everything clicked in Madeline's mind. As Shizuo's arm lashed out to punch, his surprise at his new target evident, Madeline lurched forward, swept Shizuo's arm past her and punched the side of his jaw, quickly spinning out of his way afterward.

The surrounding crowd that had originally ran upon seeing Shizuo charging through the streets paused in their retreat. Murmurs of the strongest man in Ikebukuro actually being struck by some foreign woman when he was in a full rage filtered into Madeline's ears.

"Did that just really happen?"

"Quick, get your phone out!"

"No way, one of them must have slipped or something."

"She's gonna get killed."

Madeline agreed with that last one once her senses came back to her, which was about three seconds after she had clipped Shizuo's jaw. In other words, it was when her knuckles began to throb and even slightly itch.

"Damnit," Shizuo muttered, his back still turned to Madeline. "Warner, right?"

Madeline gulped, but somehow managed to get a stable sounding, "Yeah," out.

"So that flea got you back here to cover his ass, huh? That coward."

"Hang on!" Madeline answered, her hands up in defense. "I-Izaya just pretty literally threw me at you, I had to defend myself! Right, Iza… ya?" As she looked around, Madeline found that Izaya had already ran off, easily disappearing into the large crowd.

Instead of calming down, Shizuo appeared to grow angrier as he, too, looked around for Izaya. Growling, he snapped his head towards Madeline. "Yeah? Either way, you're still protecting him, aren't you? He's already fled the freakin' scene!"

"Uh-huh," Madeline mumbled.

"Tch, typical."

The two stared at one another for some time, their audience holding their breath while Madeline got onto the balls of her feet in preparation of being attacked. Shizuo, on the other hand, appeared to deflate. It wasn't until he took out a cigarette that Madeline relaxed, as well. She kept an eye on him still, though, as she was terrified something would trigger his quick temper. She mentally reminded herself not to say the name "Izaya" unless used in a negative context in hopes that that would be enough to keep Shizuo calm.

Finally, after a few drags, Shizuo stated, "I don't like you, Warner. I don't because you like that flea and act as his bodyguard."

"Well, I honestly don't have much of an opinion on you when it comes to a personal basis," Madeline said. "And I'm not his bodyguard, he can take care of himself. I mean, he's still alive after constantly messing around with you, right?"

"Don't remind me. My point is, the next time we meet in this situation I won't hesitate again! Understand?"

Trying not to visibly flinch at the suddenly crazed look in his eyes, Madeline nodded and answered, "Yes, that won't be a problem."

"Good." Without another word or glance, Shizuo put on his sunglasses and walked off and past his still embedded phone booth. Madeline's lip twitched at the realization that he had no intention of taking care of that little problem.

"Alright then," Madeline whispered before scurrying off, too. She had absolutely no intention of sticking around in case Shizuo changed his mind and was incredibly thankful to him for sparing her a fight. She also had no intention of ever having to explain to her host family why she was in the hospital.

It didn't take long to get away from the commotion, a huge plus for Ikebukuro and large cities everywhere in Madeline's book. However, the recent events caught up with her quickly, making her lose her slight adrenaline rush and have to sit down. She practically oozed into a bench and scratched at her irritated knuckles, only to feel warm blood all over her fingers. Frustrated, Madeline blew out a puff of air and shoved her bloodied hand into the pocket of her hoodie.

"Three days," she quietly moaned. "Three days and I'm practically back where I was five years ago."

"You make it sound like you were part of a gang."

Madeline looked up, unsurprised to see Izaya standing in front of her. She scooted over to make room for him on the bench, which he took with ease giving onlookers the impression that they were good friends.

That's kinda what we are though, maybe, Madeline thought. Or maybe they think we're dating or something? I mean, he's sitting awfully close to me, I think… Or maybe he's not. Where's the line between friend and boyfriend when it comes to this? Geez, he can be so confusing without even trying. Then again, I kinda like trying to figure him out…

"You're staring," Izaya suddenly stated.

With a start, Madeline looked over to him. "At who?" she asked.

"Me."

"No, I wasn't."

"You were!" At this point Izaya turned his head towards her and poked her forehead. "You were thinking about me, which is a way of staring. Trying to stare at my soul! Yes, that's what you were doing, I'm sure of it." At Madeline's lack of response in favor of actually staring at Izaya, he quickly decided to change the subject. "How'd it go with Shizu-chan?"

"Bad, but not as bad as it could have been, thank you." Madeline pulled out her hand and displayed it to Izaya, who simply whistled.

"I saw you hit him after you diverted his attack, but that's about it." Madeline tried hold back from making annoyed expressions at his nonchalant attitude on practically throwing her into a lion's pit. "Is it supposed to twitch like that?"

Glancing at her injury, she saw what he meant but tried not to look too freaked out. Play it cool, Madeline! she thought. "It's just in shock, probably. I mean, it doesn't really hurt so that's definitely what it is. If it doesn't stop that or stop bleeding in an hour I'll go to the doctor, or something."

"Or something," Izaya mimicked. He looked like he was trying to keep from laughing. Then again, he had always seemed that way to Madeline. "So, do you want to talk about it?"

"There's not much to talk about, we didn't fight after that one punch. And I use the word 'punch' lightly! You know, I bet he doesn't even have a bruise on his jaw, or wherever I hit him? I don't want to run into him again if that's the case, okay? No, don't make me run into him period, please…! You're trying to kill me, that's what you're doing."

This time Izaya did laugh at her; a loud obnoxious guffawing laugh. "No, no, I wouldn't kill you!"

"You would, don't lie!"

"I'm appalled you think that way of me, I've never killed anybody in my life!"

"I've seen you kill mosquitoes, that's something."

"Yes, a 'something,' and everybody does, so we're all murderers… Actually, if we go by your logic and say we're all murderers then I can go ahead and kill you!"

"Don't you dare! I've been working my ass off for this field work assignment already and I'm not about to blow it this early."

"Ah yes, cultural anthropology, right? Or ethnology to be precise… well?"

"I'm not taking the bait of asking you what you want me to ask."

"And what's that?"

"I'm not saying!"

"I'll kill you if you don't, that's good motivation."

"I thought you said you wouldn't?"

"Motivate you?"

"Kill me."

"No, I said I would, remember? You're logic?"

"That was your logic twisting whatever I said. I can't really remember.. But you would kill me, I agree with that."

"No, if I did then I wouldn't have anybody to help me with my 'groceries,' remember?"

At that comment, Madeline paused, her slightly twitching lip going back into a thin line instead of trying not to giggle. "… Uh-huh."

"'Uh-huh,' exactly! Which was what I meant, by the way. Do you want to talk about us and groceries?"

Madeline put her hand back in her pocket. She hadn't thought about this when she was leaving for Japan. She was too excited at beginning her field study to give too much thought on it. Of course she had thought of Izaya once she had gotten the plane tickets, the reality of her situation sinking in then, but it was more along the lines of wondering how he was doing.

Or, has he gotten himself killed, yet?

"What's there to talk about, huh?" Madeline finally responded. "You've been fine for a good while without me and probably before that so don't try to convince me you need me."

"Oh, I do need you!" Izaya fully turned to face her, leaning closer as he lowered his voice, Madeline forcing herself not to lean back. "I need you for what you really are to me, not who you try to convince yourself you are."

At this, she really did move away from him. "I help you out of little fights with gangs, that's it."

"You're a distraction that covers for me while I go about getting information in the more 'unorthodox' areas of needs." Izaya was no longer grinning now. His eyes were slightly squinted as he regarded Madeline's reaction to his bluntness. "No response?" Madeline began to chew at her lip. With a sigh, Izaya continued, "Anthropology Major. Really? You won't make it. An ethnologist has to be keenly aware of their surroundings, the people, how they live, their interactions, and yet here you are blatantly living in ignorance of exactly that. Don't you find yourself pathetic?"

Madeline bristled, hissing, "No."

"Another part of your ignorance, I see. But fine! It's not a problem, as by choosing to believe all is well, you still do exactly as I please. Not to mention I enjoy being your god, a firm ruler of our past!"

Madeline found this to be a good time to get up and find her way home. She was tired again, her small shot of "coffee" completely out of her system by now. Izaya was getting up, as well, most likely to follow her home. She didn't know if he knew where it was or not, but all the better if he did since it would then benefit them both. The more she thought of it, the better it sounded to Madeline to have him come to her current house.

There, he would act like a human since he would be around her host family, humans he had no special investment in as they didn't prove of any more use than the other. There, he would laugh and joke like a human to put on a good show in order to make contact between her and him much easier. There, he wouldn't constantly bring up her stupid mind set of "don't speak of it and it won't exist" as he would want to solidify to others that they're close.

Though most of all, there, Madeline could continue to believe in the past Izaya she had met in high school who simply would have a few run ins with the wrong crowd. Izaya wasn't a purposely bad person, he was just weird and she understood him. Is that such a bad thing to want to see somebody as the person they probably never were?

Madeline knew the answer to that.

She just preferred not to be told the answer, thank you.

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**SIDE NOTE:** Yes, I do actually know how to fight, I've been a karate student for a year and a half (not much, but enough to know basics well), and a swipe can be quite easy to execute as the force of the attacker is merely slightly put off course enough to go in yourself to punch them, which is what I had Madeline do. But thinking of proper fight scenes and writing them are two different difficulties, I found... Way hard to write that stuff, man...

**A/N: **I repeat,** _I DON'T SUPPORT THIS PAIRING!_** As stated first, this is an entry for the Mary Sue Challenge. Basically it started almost two months ago when a discussion on whether or not canonxOC causes us ("sporkers" at the marysue livejournal comm) to immediately go SUE! and foam at the mouth. My opinion is it's fine, so long as the canon character is not in a firmly established canon relationship, like Shinra/Celty in Durarara!'s case. Anyway, a day or two later A CHALLENGE WAS ISSUED! I see it as a case of if we're such know it alls at sues, write a canonxOC one yourself! So I did, and now when I spork and a suethor finds out and fusses that I wouldn't be able to write an OC blah blah blah I can say, Why yes, I have written one.

So yeah, I originally did a short comic of these two interacting actually AFTER the Shizuo run in as my entry, but many factors made me turn back to writing, instead. 1.) I procrastinated and therefore the comic was kinda crappy (no tones at all!) 2.) It was too short and didn't meet the required 25 page minimum, which I orignally read as maximum. Score one for the embarrassingly oblivious! 3.) WE WERE GIVEN AN EXTENSION~! But I was at the beach for the past week, just got back yesterday, and today's the deadline and so I wrote it all today! WHOO HOO! Though, this was actually my original concept for the comic, anyway, so it was easy to put out as it already fully existed in my head.

ONE MORE THING! Madeline is my newest OC, she's only existed a few months, so if she's terrible, TELL ME! Seriously, none of my friends are writers or even comic artists (one draws with me, THAT'S IT) so when I try to bounce ideas off of them they just go "she's great!" but I know she still needs work, work on an OC is practically never done! My main concern: **_WAS SHE TOO BLAND? _**She's supposed to be somewhat dry as she's constantly exhausted, but that shouldn't equal a boring character. She also existed before I got into Durarara!, just for the record...

Okay then, time for me to shut up, so THANK YOU FOR READING!

You know what to do,

Please leave a review!

As always, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcomed with Shizaya... maybe~ At least a comic, I hope.


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